Paychex (PAYX) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Paychex, Inc. provides payroll, human resources and employee benefits solutions to businesses of varying sizes. Its services include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance tools, HR support, employee benefits, retirement services and business insurance.

The company also offers professional employer organization services, which let businesses outsource certain employment responsibilities, as well as technology for workforce management, recruiting and compliance. Paychex primarily serves employers in the United States and supports businesses with international workforce needs.

Founded in Rochester, New York, in 1971 by B. Thomas Golisano, Paychex has grown from a regional payroll provider into a broad business services company. John Gibson, Jr. serves as president and chief executive officer.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $114.54 to $117.32
• 50-Day Range: $98.50 to $127.34
• 52-Week Range: $85.45 to $127.98
• Volume: 3.34 million shs
• Average Volume: 3.44 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $40.85 billion
• P/E Ratio: 22.77
• Dividend Yield: 4.15%
• Price Target: $115.93
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Paychex Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Paychex scored higher than 48% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 479th out of 653 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Paychex has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.06, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 1 buy rating, 13 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Paychex is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Paychex has been the subject of 14 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.21%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Paychex are expected to grow by 6.21% in the coming year, from $5.96 to $6.33 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Paychex is 22.77, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.56.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Paychex is 22.77, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 32.87.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Paychex has a PEG Ratio of 2.45. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Paychex has a P/B Ratio of 11.00. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.89% of the float of Paychex has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Paychex has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.81.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Paychex has recently increased by 10.60%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Leadership

Paychex is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.98%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Paychex has only been increasing its dividend for 3 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Paychex is 94.44%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Paychex will have a dividend payout ratio of 75.20% in the coming year. This indicates that Paychex may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.09

News Sentiment

Paychex has a news sentiment score of 1.09. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.47 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 23 news articles for Paychex this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 9 people have searched for PAYX on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -18% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 2 people have added Paychex to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -60% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Paychex insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $844,104.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.60% of the stock of Paychex is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

83.47% of the stock of Paychex is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 8/28 Dividend: 7/28/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 8/28 Dividend: 7/28/2026
• Dividend Payable: 8/28/2026
• Last Earnings: 9/23/2026
• Record date for 11/25 Dividend: 10/26/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 11/25 Dividend: 10/26/2026
• Today: 11/09/2026
• J.P. Morgan 2026 Ultimate Services Investor Conference: 11/17/2026
• Dividend Payable: 11/25/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 12/18/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 5/31/2027

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: Professional Services
• Sub-Industry: Human Resource & Employment Services
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:PAYX
• CIK: 723531
• Web: www.paychex.com
• Phone: (585) 385-6666
• Fax: 302-655-5049
• Employees: 17,600
• Year Founded: 1971

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Paychex: $115.93
• High Price Target: $150.00
• Low Price Target: $96.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +1.0%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.06
• Research Coverage: 17 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $5.04
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 22.77
• Forward P/E Ratio: 18.13
• P/E Growth: 2.45
• Net Income: $1.76 billion
• Net Margins: 27.35%
• Pretax Margin: 36.02%
• Return on Equity: 52.78%
• Return on Assets: 12.29%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.23
• Current Ratio: 1.28
• Quick Ratio: 1.28

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $6.60 billion
• Price / Sales: 6.19
• Cash Flow: $7.30 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 15.71
• Book Value: $10.43 per share
• Price / Book: 11.00

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 355,980,000
• Free Float: 353,844,000
• Market Cap: $40.85 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.81